Wednesday, November 22, 2017

A Minnesota man accused of committing war crimes when he commanded a Nazi-led unit during World War II contributed thousands of dollars to the Republican National Committee, a Daily Beast review of federal campaign records found.

Michael Karkoc is wanted for arrest in Poland after the country’s war crimes prosecutors said they are “100 percent” certain that Karkoc commanded a SS company and that there was “no doubt” that his men razed two Polish villages, killing 40 civilians. In July, Poland requested Karkoc’s extradition from the U.S. and is waiting for a decision. (The Justice Department said it does not comment on extradition requests.)

In June 2013, the Associated Press reported Karkoc was a SS officer and that one of his men told Soviet investigators that his unit had been ordered to “liquidate all the residents” of the village of Chlaniow, Poland, resulting in the deaths of men, women and children.

After the AP published its exposé, Karkoc made three separate contributions to the Republican National Committee totaling $3,850 between September 2013 and May 2014. These are the only federal campaign contributions he has made, according to available records.

The RNC did not respond to a request for comment.

Karkoc’s son, Andriy Karkos, told The Daily Beast the contributions were made only because Karkoc has been a “lifelong Republican.”

“He has a picture of Ronald and Nancy Reagan in his bedroom,” Karkos said.

Asked to explain his father’s affinity for the GOP, Karkos replied: “Republicans oppose communists…Under FDR, the White House was penetrated by Soviet agents of influence.”

“I’m assuming he voted Republican [in the 2016 presidential election],” Karkos added, remarking that he sees no reason for his father to have changed his support for the GOP.

I had a landlord who was a Polish immigrant of that generation and he worshiped Ronald Reagan too. I don't think he was a an actual Nazi. But he could have been. He certainly didn't like Jews. But then he also believed so fervently in his rights as a "property owner" that he would come into my apartment day or night even when I was sleeping and there was nothing I could do to convince him that I had rights too. He would wave his deed in my face and scream "This is my house! I own this! You own nothing!" So, he may not have been a Nazi but he was at the very least a Paulite.